Orkestar Kriminal in Berlin 17 March 2024

"Ganowim-loshen" ("thieves' language", Yiddish) was the Yiddish sung in Warsaw, Odessa and Istanbul in the interwar period. These are not ordinary folk songs. There's a lot of violence and complaining about them..... a concentration of Jewish wisdom. In addition to the Yiddish-language gangster repertoire, the Orkestar Kriminal ("Criminal Orchestra") recorded the 1930s Greek underground anthems "Rebetika Mortika-Hashden". In addition to Yiddish songs, the band members sing in Pashto, Spanish, Bosnian, Hindi, Polish and other languages of the criminal underground.

Orkestar Kriminal was formed in Montreal in 2012. They are 10 musicians who create bold arrangements of old ballads that tell the stories of poor people around the world driven to a life of crime: Christos Smyrnios, drums, Tyler Parent, upright bass, Lisa Gamble, musical saw and baglam, Giselle Claudia Webber, vocals, Etienne Barry, keys, Anne Francis Meyer, piccolo flute and vocals, Julian Selody, saxophone, Sam Minevich, guitar and bouzouki, Lee Kouri, accordion, Bridget Dicer, violin, Eli Camilo, trumpet, and Margaret Diane Donavan, trombone.

Orkestar Kriminal's album "Tummel" was released in 2015, garnered much media attention, and won a GAMIQ for "Roots Album of the Year." After continuous touring and multiple festivals, the biggest "criminal" punks in the music world along with producer Josh Dolgin released the vinyl album "Razlomanye Ryobra" (Broken Ribs) in 2020, hitting #1 on College Radio's Canadian National International charts. Orkestar Kriminal is currently working on their first original album "Originali" with Grammy Award winning producer Mark Lawson. The bittersweet melodies that permeate the band's repertoire are delightfully infectious, so there's no turning back for Orkestar Kriminal. Vivid, emotional, full of improvisation, the band's music is cabaret noir at its best!

Official site: https://www.orkestar-kriminal.com

Bandcamp: https://orkestarkriminal.bandcamp.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/orkestarkriminal/